Виталик Бутерин оспаривает уголовное преследование разработчика Tornado Cash Translation: Vitalik Buterin challenges the prosecution of Tornado Cash developer

Co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin released a letter in support of developer Roman Storm, who faces a potential prison sentence of up to five years for his involvement with the Tornado Cash project.

In August, a jury in the United States found the co-founder of the crypto-mixer guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. However, the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges of money laundering and violating sanctions.

Storm stated that the authorities have criminalized coding in his case, equating privacy tools with money laundering.

“But we know the truth: the right to privacy is a human right. Mathematics is not a crime. The struggle for my freedom—and for the future of open-source software—is at a critical juncture. I need your voice to show the world that this community stands united,” he wrote.

Buterin responded to his call, emphasizing that, as a staunch advocate for the importance of privacy, he has supported Storm’s work from the outset. He positioned privacy tools like Tornado Cash as essential safeguards against the misuse of personal data by government entities and private corporations.

The expert firmly rejected the stance of those who believe that governments or intelligence agencies should have complete access to citizens’ confidential information for the sake of public safety. According to Buterin, such databases are regularly hacked or their contents simply sold.

He also noted that he has personally used Tornado Cash for anonymous transactions when purchasing software, for charitable donations, and in various other instances.

Buterin described Storm as a “principled and resilient developer” defending the fundamental human right to privacy. He remarked that the applications created by the programmer maintain their functionality years after he has ceased working on them.

“Roman, like me, wants to see a world where the fundamental guarantees of our rights, which were an indisputable standard in the past millennium, remain with us in the next one. And that is why I stand with him,” concluded Buterin.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Storm’s lawyers intend to file a motion for the dismissal of the trial against him.